Our brain is the most complex piece of machinery on the planet. Now scientists at IBM and Brain and Mind Institute at the Ecole Polytecnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland have launched an effort to create the first computer simulation of the entire human brain, right down to the molecular level.
Termed the Blue Brain Project, the project will involve building a custom-made supercomputer based on IBM’s Blue Gene design. The hope is that the virtual brain will help shed light on some aspects of human cognition, such as perception, memory and perhaps even consciousness.

The Brain (Courtesy: University of Wisconsin, Madison)Over the next two years scientists from both organizations will work together using the huge computational capacity of IBM’s eServer Blue Gene supercomputer to create a detailed model of the circuitry in the neocortex – the largest and most complex part of the human brain. By expanding the project to model other areas of the brain, scientists hope to eventually build an accurate, computer-based model of the entire brain.
The system that will be installed at EPFL will occupy the floor space of about four refrigerators, and will have a peak processing speed of at least 22.8 trillion floating-point operations per second (22.8 teraflops), making it one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world.
The first phase of the project will be to make a software replica of a column of the neocortex. The neocortex constitutes about 85% of the human brain’s total mass and is thought to be responsible for the cognitive functions of language, learning, memory and complex thought. An accurate replica of the neocortical column is the essential first step to simulating the whole brain and also will provide the link between genetic, molecular and cognitive levels of brain function. The second and subsequent phases will be to expand the simulation to include circuitry from other brain regions and eventually the whole brain.
Hopefully, in our lifetime, we will solve the ultimate mystery... What makes us human?:):)